Sumit wins 6-3 to enter gold medal bout
India’s Sumit cruised into the gold medal round of men’s 125kg Freestyle on the final day of the Asian Wrestling Championship here. With the medal assured by Sumit, India have bettered their tally of nine in the last edition of the Asian Championship at Bangkok, Thailand.
The heavyweight grappler showed his mettle on his way to the final as he faced little difficulty in overcoming his opponents during the quarterfinal and semifinal bouts.
In his first bout of the day, Sumit beat Taiki Yamamoto of Japan 6-3 in the quarters and then outplayed Farkhod Anakulov of Tajikistan7-2 in the semifinal to reach the gold medal round with much ease.
He will take on Yadollah Mohammadkazem Mohebi of Iran in the final later in the evening. However, all the other Indian freestyle wrestlers in the fray today -- Harphool (61kg), Vinod Kumar Omprakash (70kg) and Somveer (86kg) -- bowed out early.
INDIA GO DOWN 1-4
PUKEKOHE: India were outplayed 1-4 by New Zealand in their opening game of a five-match women’s hockey series which began here at the Rosa Birch Park on Sunday.
New Zealand found their first breakthrough in the 13th minute when Jordan Grant converted a field goal to end the first quarter with a 1-0 lead. Olivia Merry scored a 23rd minute goal to put further pressure on India. Though New Zealand dominated the first two quarters, the 10-minute break during halftime helped the Indian eves recover from a 0-2 deficit with Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne bringing in vital strategic changes. Anupa Barla (31’) converted a field goal only 40 seconds into the third quarter to narrow the goal difference to 1-2.
Meanwhile, Rachael McCann scored New Zealand’s third goal in the 43rd minute to end the third quarter at 3-1. A defensive error in the circle by India cost them dearly with New Zealand’s Deanna Ritchie scoring the fourth goal .
HARIKA DRAWS
MALMO: Indian GM Harika Dronavalli overcame a strong challenge from the table topper of the tournament Baadur Jobava to play out a hard-fought draw in Round 4 of TePe Sigeman & Co. Chess tournament. World No. 10 Indian, playing with black pieces, had to be at her defensive best to avoid conceding the game.
INDIA CLAIM 2 MEDALS
New Delhi: India claimed gold and a bronze at the China World Para Athletics Grand Prix being held in Beijing. Ramudri Someshwara Rao won a gold medal in the 200m race and Hokato Sema bagged a bronze in shot put.